What The Ye, Frank?

Frank Ocean has, as the kids say, come out the cut.

Friday was a massively significant day for rapper Kanye West. He hosted an event in Madison Square Garden that featured the triple debut of his newest selection from his clothing line, Yeezy Season 3, a trailer for his first ever video game, Only One, and the main event, his new album, The Life of Pablo. However, one of the biggest surprises was the appearance of a certain guest artist.

Rhythm and blues singer Frank Ocean notoriously dropped off the face of the planet this past summer. In April 2015, he put a countdown clock on his official website announcing the release of his highly anticipated album in July of the same year. However, when the day came, nothing happened. In fact, his website stopped working and he disappeared from the public eye. He made a similar stunt in 2013 when he spontaneously deleted his social media accounts. Ever since this latest move, though, fans have been chomping at the bit to hear from him. The release of West's album, which features the R&B singer, is the first time Ocean has been seen or heard from.

Well at least we know he's alive.

Personally I think this is a PR nightmare. In this business, it is best to always under-promise and over-deliver. Ocean has taken over-promising and under-delivering to a new extreme. I became a fan of his when he was active with the rap group Odd Future but his abandonment has left me with major trust issues. As much as I love his work, I have little faith he will ever come through with this album. His disappearance with no explanation or apology is frankly just plain rude. Incredibly, though, we are all still talking about him and waiting on the edge of our seats for him to release new music. People still have hope, even more now that he made an appearance and appeared on another artist's track. For his sake, I hope he does not leave us waiting much longer. I envision a surprise release, much like Beyoncé did in 2013. Now that would be a good publicity stunt.

Until next time!

Kathryn